I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Zeng Zhiyuan... are you sure he said that name himself?"

"Confirmed. His exact words were, 'When Zeng Zhiyuan was in office, I helped him handle some things that were inconvenient for him to do personally,' and he mentioned the food court, Shuiyun Club, and Zeng Guosheng's name."

Chen Yuanda didn't respond immediately, as if he was processing the information.

After a moment, he spoke: "Once the materials are compiled, send a copy to my office. I'm going back to Beijing tomorrow. At this level, a report must be given in person to the top leaders of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Let me know immediately if there are any new developments in the case."

Hu Yuheng replied, "Okay."

……

On the other side of the provincial capital, in the interrogation room of the Qingping branch.

Bai Jiangfei was brought in again.

Zhao Guoqiang sat opposite him, staring into his eyes: "Bai Jiangfei, you confessed some things last time, so I'll ask you a few more questions today."

Bai Jiangfei lowered his head and placed his hands on his knees.

He had been inside for a while, and he had lost weight since he first came in. His hair had also grown longer and was hanging messily over his forehead.

He asked in a low voice, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Zhao Guoqiang didn't beat around the bush: "You said you saw Huarong Investment documents in Yang Xiujiang's study. Be more specific. When, where, and what did the documents look like?"

Bai Jiangfei paused for a moment, as if recalling something:

"It was probably last autumn, but I can't remember the exact date."

I went to his house for dinner. After dinner, he was taking a phone call in his study. I went in to get something and saw a document spread out on his desk.

I glanced at it and saw the words "Huarong Investment" on it, along with a handwritten note. I couldn't make out what it said, but the handwriting was his.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I didn't pay attention at the time, thinking it was something related to his work. It was only when you asked me that I remembered. There's something else—"

Zhao Guoqiang pressed, "What is it?"

Bai Jiangfei paused for a moment before speaking:

"Once I went to his study and saw him talking to someone. The person didn't have a provincial accent; their accent sounded like someone from Beijing."

They didn't talk for long before the person left.

Later I asked him who that person was, and he said they were there to discuss business and told me not to ask any more questions. But I heard him mention the words "former boss" to that person.

Zhao Guoqiang jotted down a few notes in his notebook: "What does that person look like?"

Bai Jiangfei recalled for a moment: "He looked to be in his forties, not very tall, wearing a dark jacket, and looked quite imposing. I didn't pay attention to any other details."

"Is there anything else?"

Bai Jiangfei thought for a moment, as if he had remembered something else:

"My uncle has a safe, which is in the cabinet on the left side of his desk. It is usually locked."

Once, I was talking to him in his room. The cabinet was open, and I saw a brown paper envelope on the top shelf. I could vaguely see half a piece of paper sticking out of the envelope, with the words "Overseas" written on it.

Zhao Guoqiang was taken aback and stared at Bai Jiangfei for a while: "Can you confirm that those are details of an overseas bank account?"

Bai Jiangfei shook his head: "I'm not sure, I only saw those two words. But his safe is usually locked very tightly, so the things that can be put in it must not be ordinary."

Zhao Guoqiang tidied up the transcript and pushed it in front of Bai Jiangfei: "Sign here."

Bai Jiangfei lowered his head, picked up the pen, and signed his name on the last page.

"Bai Jiangfei, if the information you provided is true, the organization will consider mitigating your punishment."

Bai Jiangfei lowered his head and remained silent.

He "sold" his own uncle.

He no longer seemed to care so much about whether the punishment could be reduced.

Once my uncle falls from grace, this family will surely decline, and its former glory will be gone forever...

After leaving the interrogation room, Zhao Guoqiang read through the supplementary transcript, then dialed Hu Yuheng's number:

"Director Hu, Bai Jiangfei has given us some new information."

He had seen Yang Xiujiang having a private conversation with a person who spoke with a Beijing accent, mentioning a "former leader," and he had also seen documents marked "overseas" in Yang Xiujiang's safe.

What's inside the envelope is still unclear.

I've prepared the supplementary transcript and will send it to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection immediately.

"Okay. I'll wait."

After hanging up the phone, Hu Yuheng muttered to himself:

"Former leader...overseas..."

"It seems that some of Bai Jiangfei's confession corroborates Gu Huaiyuan's. Our former leader, Zeng Zhiyuan, is indeed involved in this case."

She picked up the phone and dialed Chen Yuanda's number.

"Director Chen, there's new information from the Qingping branch. Bai Jiangfei mentioned the same person in his confession—his former leader, who should be Zeng Zhiyuan, the one Gu Huaiyuan mentioned."

She paused for a moment.

"Also, Bai Jiangfei mentioned that there was an envelope in Yang Xiujiang's safe with the words 'overseas' written on it. The contents of the envelope are currently unknown."

Chen Yuanda remained silent, seemingly processing the information.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke: "Okay, I understand. I'll report it all when I return to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection tomorrow."

……

The next day, in Beijing, at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

After arriving, Chen Yuan did not rest but went straight to the government office building. When he arrived at the office door, he paused, straightened his collar, and then knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Chen Yuanda pushed open the door and went in.

Song Huai'an sat behind his desk, wearing a dark Zhongshan suit, his hair neatly combed, and reading glasses as he looked at a document.

He looked up, saw it was Chen Yuanda, took off his glasses and placed them on the table: "Any progress in Jiangnan Province?"

"Um."

Chen Yuanda nodded, walked into the office, and took the materials out of his briefcase and placed them on Song Huai'an's desk.

"Secretary Song, Gu Huaiyuan has spoken up. He has implicated Zeng Zhiyuan. This is his written statement and related supporting evidence."

Song Huai'an remained silent.

He reached out and picked up the document, flipped to the first page, and started reading from the beginning.

His reading speed was neither fast nor slow; he paused where he should and skipped where he should, but when he turned to the page about "Zeng Zhiyuan"...

His finger paused on the edge of the page for a moment before continuing to turn the page.

The office remained quiet for a long time.

Chen Yuanda remained silent, waiting for Song Huai'an to finish reading.

After reading the last page, Song Huai'an closed the document and placed it on the corner of the table.

He didn't immediately respond, but leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a while before asking, "How much has the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection verified?"

Chen Yuanda answered truthfully:

"The statements of Lin Meijuan, Fu Hongyuan, Zhou Shuncheng, and Tang Ming have all been made, and the flow of funds and accounting records match up."

Bai Jiangfei also provided a supplementary testimony, identifying Yang Xiujiang as having contact with people who spoke with a Beijing accent and mentioning "old leaders".

Currently, the chain of evidence is still being refined, but the testimonies have already formed a basis for cross-verification.

Song Huai'an nodded, his gaze falling on the closed document, as if making a final judgment.

Then he said, "Leave the materials here for now. Tomorrow morning, prepare a complete situation report and bring it to me."

He didn't say "good" or "bad".

But Chen Yuanda knew that the fact that the materials had been kept meant that there was already a preliminary direction for filing a case.

He didn't say anything more, turned around and walked out of the office.

The door closed behind him, and Chen Yuanda stood in the corridor, finally able to relax the tension he had been holding in.